The new cultivar was discovered as a chance, naturally occurring, whole plant mutation of the parent variety, an unnamed variety of Haworthia limifolia. ‘L1’ was discovered by Peter Lock, a citizen of the Netherlands in a commercial planting of Haworthia limifolia in November of 2003, at a commercial greenhouse in s'Gravenzande, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘L1’ was first performed in the Netherlands, at a commercial laboratory by tissue culture in May 2006. ‘L1’ has since produced several generations and has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.